Tim Taylor Dies

[Rosey]

Shaughnessy is one of the all-time greats of sportswriting (but even the legends have off days). Peter Gammons, Bob Ryan and Dan Shaughnessy are sportswriting's equivalent of the (sorry) 1927 Yankees.

This is like a parody of Boston self-absorption from The Onion.  Add Mitch Albom and you would have the Mount Rushmore of overrated hacks.*

(* this is not quite fair to Gammons, who had talent before being swallowed into the Bristol maw).

Agreed. Shaughnessy sucks. He's one of those people who sounds erudite to morons but in actuality is about as deep as a puddle.

But, FWIW... the same is true of pretty much all sportswriters. New Yorkers (Lupica included) are no exception.

[Trotsky]

But, FWIW... the same is true of pretty much all sportswriters. New Yorkers (Lupica included) are no exception.

Certainly.   In the kingdom of the blind, even Tony Kornheiser can be king.

[Josh '99]

Shaughnessy is one of the all-time greats of sportswriting (but even the legends have off days). Peter Gammons, Bob Ryan and Dan Shaughnessy are sportswriting's equivalent of the (sorry) 1927 Yankees.

This is like a parody of Boston self-absorption from The Onion.  Add Mitch Albom and you would have the Mount Rushmore of overrated hacks.*

(* this is not quite fair to Gammons, who had talent before being swallowed into the Bristol maw).

Agreed. Shaughnessy sucks. He's one of those people who sounds erudite to morons but in actuality is about as deep as a puddle.

But, FWIW... the same is true of pretty much all sportswriters. New Yorkers (Lupica included) are no exception.

Seriously, Lupica is one of the worst.

[RichH]

But, FWIW... the same is true of pretty much all sportswriters. New Yorkers (Lupica included) are no exception.

Certainly.   In the kingdom of the blind, even Tony Kornheiser can be king.

Seriously. I sat for a minute trying to come up with the name of any major-market sportswriter who I know I enjoy reading.  Most are terrible, and seem to care more about having bronzing sessions or facelifts so ESPN will put them in one of the 60 screaming-head panel/game show slots, because TeeVee!  I finally came up with Jim Caple and Tim Kurkjian.  The former is more of a humorist than anything, and the latter must be a good writer, because he has the on-air personality of a halibut.  I think I've also enjoyed some of Richard Justice's writing, but I don't remember any specific examples.

[Jordan 04]

But, FWIW... the same is true of pretty much all sportswriters. New Yorkers (Lupica included) are no exception.

Certainly.   In the kingdom of the blind, even Tony Kornheiser can be king.

Tony's great, but he doesn't write. He'd be the first to tell you.

[French Rage]

But, FWIW... the same is true of pretty much all sportswriters. New Yorkers (Lupica included) are no exception.

Certainly.   In the kingdom of the blind, even Tony Kornheiser can be king.

Tony's great, but he doesn't write. He'd be the first to tell you.

Alls I knows is his daughter went to Cornell, so that wins a tiebreaker.

[jtwcornell91]

But, FWIW... the same is true of pretty much all sportswriters. New Yorkers (Lupica included) are no exception.

Certainly.   In the kingdom of the blind, even Tony Kornheiser can be king.

Seriously. I sat for a minute trying to come up with the name of any major-market sportswriter who I know I enjoy reading.

Charlie Pierce?

[Rita]

But, FWIW... the same is true of pretty much all sportswriters. New Yorkers (Lupica included) are no exception.

Certainly.   In the kingdom of the blind, even Tony Kornheiser can be king.

Seriously. I sat for a minute trying to come up with the name of any major-market sportswriter who I know I enjoy reading.

Charlie Pierce?

(on NPR nerd soapbox) I like him a lot as a guest panelist on "Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me" and his weekly segment on "Only a Game" (off NPR nerd soapbox). He does have some "pompousness" that might alienate some people. But at 7 am on Saturdays (when Only a Game" airs in my local market) my "pompousness" radar is not yet functional.

[KeithK]

[Kurkjian] must be a good writer, because he has the on-air personality of a halibut.

I love his on air personality because it's so obvious that he just absoluely loves baseball.  I remember watching him talk about a game a few years ago when Texas put up 30 runs against the Orioles. He was positively gushing about what happened, not because he cared about who won or lost but because it was a remarkable ballgame.  I felt the exact same way. ) I speciifically remember his voice cracking in the way that it does as he explained how the last pitched for the winning Rangers got a save in a 30-3 game.)

[BMac]

I like Charlie Pierce.

If you read NBA coverage:

Zack Smith at Grantland is fantastic- consistently bringing insight in his pieces.

John Hollinger has always been good at using numbers rather than his opinion- unfortunately too good, he doesn't write anymore and got picked up by the Grizzlies.

There was another guy at ESPN who wrote about the NBA and was good, can't recall his name. He did the same things Smith does with including videos and breaking them down.

[billhoward]

I like Charlie Pierce.

If you read NBA coverage:

Zack Smith at Grantland is fantastic- consistently bringing insight in his pieces.

John Hollinger has always been good at using numbers rather than his opinion- unfortunately too good, he doesn't write anymore and got picked up by the Grizzlies.

There was another guy at ESPN who wrote about the NBA and was good, can't recall his name. He did the same things Smith does with including videos and breaking them down.

And maybe to your point, the sportswriter who matters going forward is a sportcaster.

[Josh '99]

But, FWIW... the same is true of pretty much all sportswriters. New Yorkers (Lupica included) are no exception.

Certainly.   In the kingdom of the blind, even Tony Kornheiser can be king.

Seriously. I sat for a minute trying to come up with the name of any major-market sportswriter who I know I enjoy reading.  Most are terrible, and seem to care more about having bronzing sessions or facelifts so ESPN will put them in one of the 60 screaming-head panel/game show slots, because TeeVee!  I finally came up with Jim Caple and Tim Kurkjian.  The former is more of a humorist than anything, and the latter must be a good writer, because he has the on-air personality of a halibut.  I think I've also enjoyed some of Richard Justice's writing, but I don't remember any specific examples.

Does Joe Posnanski count?  He's fantastic.

[RichH]

[Kurkjian] must be a good writer, because he has the on-air personality of a halibut.

I love his on air personality because it's so obvious that he just absoluely loves baseball.  I remember watching him talk about a game a few years ago when Texas put up 30 runs against the Orioles. He was positively gushing about what happened, not because he cared about who won or lost but because it was a remarkable ballgame.  I felt the exact same way. ) I speciifically remember his voice cracking in the way that it does as he explained how the last pitched for the winning Rangers got a save in a 30-3 game.)

I guess I should clarify that I'm a fan of Kurkjian partly because his knowledge and enthusiam sidestepped the usual telegenic requirements needed to get on-air. Despite possessing a squeaky and squauky voice and lacking matinee-idol looks and charisma, he's just substantially good at what he does. And that's rare these days.

[KeithK]

[Kurkjian] must be a good writer, because he has the on-air personality of a halibut.

I love his on air personality because it's so obvious that he just absoluely loves baseball.  I remember watching him talk about a game a few years ago when Texas put up 30 runs against the Orioles. He was positively gushing about what happened, not because he cared about who won or lost but because it was a remarkable ballgame.  I felt the exact same way. ) I speciifically remember his voice cracking in the way that it does as he explained how the last pitched for the winning Rangers got a save in a 30-3 game.)

I guess I should clarify that I'm a fan of Kurkjian partly because his knowledge and enthusiam sidestepped the usual telegenic requirements needed to get on-air. Despite possessing a squeaky and squauky voice and lacking matinee-idol looks and charisma, he's just substantially good at what he does. And that's rare these days.

Agreed.